This Week’s Prayer Guide
May 24 – This week, pray for personal requests from pastors in Zhengzhou, for their families and their churches. Pray for God to be with their family and church relationships.
May 25 – Pastor E shared, “I come out of a traditional house church background, where we were mainly trained as evangelists, not as stable shepherds of a church. Once we moved into church-planting and pastoral ministry, I’ve felt a lot of challenge in needing to grow my shepherding capacity: things like preaching consistently, giving people counsel in all of life, building the church into a healthier community.” Please pray that God will equip Pastor E with skills and resources to meet these pastoral challenges.
May 26 – Pastor H shared, “We really emphasize personal relationships here in Henan; the underlying culture is heavy on human relationships. Handling interpersonal dynamics and different expectations believers place on pastors is a really big challenge for me. Plus, because of employment pressure and relational expectations, the stability of commitment among our brothers and sisters is also shaky.” Pray that the brothers and sisters in Pastor H’s church will grow in their love for each other, and give Pastor H patience and grace.
May 27 – Being at the intersection of traditional house church and pluralistic urban environment, pastors in Zhengzhou have to balance caring for the older generations with more traditional thinking, and caring for the younger generation who are under the influence of secularism. Please pray that the pastors can have the wisdom to preach to both types of audiences, and may the gospel defeat the idols in both camps.
May 28 – Several pastors shared the desire to shield their families from the pressure and expectation of the congregations, so that their wives and children can participate in the life of their churches as ordinary believers. Pray that the Lord can grant these pastors’ families with space, rest, and renewal in the Spirit.
May 29 – One pastor expressed that one of the biggest concerns is passing their faith to the next generation, “Many young people who came out of college fellowships stayed in this city, got married, and had children. What matters more is not just pastoring adults in the midst of pluralism, but also how we pass on the faith to the next generation.” Please pray that the Holy Spirit will work in the hearts of the church’s children, that they will come to know the Lord from a very young age.
May 30 – Pastor C shared, “What’s become clearer to me is that we can’t fix our eyes only on our own family or on our small flock. We want to become an outward-facing church. Pray that we would truly become a church in this city that is able to give, that is an Antioch-type church, that we not only stay in this city but reach beyond it.” Amen.